Farewell, My Princess
I've put this entry off for a long time, because I knew it would break my heart to write this. Also, I didn't want it to seem like we'd given up on her. But it's been over 6 weeks now since Jihi's been gone. She was last seen in Peter's arms on Sunday, August 3rd. He held her and called her "pumpkin". She liked to be outside so much, and was so good about staying around the house, that we didn't worry about her. It was our fault, though, because we got careless about making sure she was in at night. Sometimes she would stay out the whole night, but she would always be back the next day. She liked her dry food, and didn't seem to care too much about regular meal times. So it wasn't until a day or so later that we began to be concerned. Despite reassurances of "she'll be back", or, "someone has adopted her", deep down I felt that if Jihi could have come home, she would have.
I made flyers, and I combed the neighborhood calling for her. I visited the local animal shelters a number of times, and was distressed to learn that stray animals may be euthanized as few as 5 days after being received! After a couple weeks, I didn't have the heart to keep going back to the shelters again and again.
Jihi was a very, very, sweet cat. She had beautiful markings, and a beautiful personality. She was always talkative and cheerful. She always, always knew that she was a princess, and was pleased to allow you to treat her like one. Farewell, my Princess. We will deeply miss you, and we will never, ever forget you.
